Thursday, July 18, 2013

Where is Gawker sending the Rob Ford ‘Crackstarter’ money ?

Remember that crazy time, not so long ago, when all
anyone was talking about were the allegations that Toronto Mayor Rob
Ford had been videotaped smoking from a crack pipe?

That seems like a lifetime ago. Two months later, no
video has surfaced and, despite reported ties to a criminal
investigation and being the subject of a massive crowd-funded bid to
purchase a copy of the video, it seems like it just wasn't meant to be.

U.S. gossip site Gawker, the first group to report seeing
the video, launched a bid to raise $200,000 to purchase the video from a
group of men who had been attempting to sell it.

When the story went public, those men fell off the radar, according to Gawker. The fundraising campaign – coined ‘Crackstarter’ – continued, however, and the site easily reached its target.Gawker editor John Cook announced today what will happen to
that money. He had promised to send the money to a Canadian charity,
should the website fail to obtain the video, and the official
announcement was made today.John Cook writes:

The total take from Crackstarter was $201,199. Indiegogo, the service
that hosted the campaign, withheld $8,047.96 in fees. PayPal, which
processed the payments, withheld $8,368.43. That left the Crackstarter
with a net take of $184,782.61, which has been held in a non-interest
bearing account since PayPal released the money to us.
We are splitting this sum four ways, with $46,195.65 going to each of the following organizations.

The Somali Canadian Association of Etobicoke
Seems like a fair candidate. Reports identified those who recorded
the video as Somali drug dealers living in Etobicoke. Some argued the
description unfairly maligned Toronto's Somali community, so here is
some just desserts.

The South Riverdale Community Health CenterGawker says this group acts as a drug outreach service in
the city's southeast end. The money will go toward its drug programs,
including needle exchanges and providing crack kits.

Unison Health and Community Services
Another community outreach centre. It has several locations in
Toronto, including a presence in Etobicoke. Again, the money will go to
funding drug and addiction programs.

Ontario Regional Addictions Partnership Committee
This committee works in conjunction with the National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program in Ontario. Gawker
says the donation will go to training drug and alcohol counsellors, and
buying equipment. It isn't a non-profit group, but Cook said he was
confident the money would be used properly.

So there you have it, the four winners of Canada’s biggest political circus.

None of these groups were on the list of presumed frontrunners, but congratulations to them all. Hopefully the $46,195.65 they each receive will make a difference.Please share this